


The Great Hiatus, in Form and Function

by SweetLateJuliet



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-09
Updated: 2014-02-09
Packaged: 2018-01-11 19:01:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1176715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetLateJuliet/pseuds/SweetLateJuliet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The narrative/formal context of the post-S2 <i>Sherlock</i> hiatus matches the original Great Hiatus, but the emotional/functional context of The Great Hiatus is more like the current, post-S3 hiatus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Great Hiatus, in Form and Function

“The Great Hiatus” in ACD canon is the three-year period when Sherlock Holmes was dead. The equivalent in BBC  _Sherlock_ is the period between TRF and TEH, when Sherlock faked his death.

… Sort of.

**I think the _Sherlock_ showrunners are doing something outrageous and meta: They’re modernizing The Great Hiatus in function as well as form.** The functional Great Hiatus started in January 2014.

First a bit of historical context: ACD was happy with the commercial success of his Holmes stories, but he soon felt eclipsed by his creation. He wrote Holmes’ death in “The Final Problem” (published in 1893, set in 1891) so he could concentrate on his “serious” writing.

The public outcry was enormous and continued for years. ACD relented and published “The Hound of the Baskervilles” in 1901, but this was set before Holmes’ death. In 1903, he finally brought Holmes back to life in “The Empty House” and explained his (now-fake) death and absence.

In BBC _Sherlock_ , TRF showed Sherlock’s “death” and set up his absence, so **the time between S2 and S3 was ACD’s Great Hiatus _in form_**. But TRF ends with a shot of Sherlock alive, so viewers didn’t even need the 100-year-old spoiler called “The Empty House” to know he wasn’t actually dead. We were left wondering “how he did it,” wounded by John’s grief, and anxiously awaiting a new series.  But we knew Sherlock was alive and that there would be an S3, so the emotional experience for the audience was different from the original post-Reichenbach period.

**The functional, emotional equivalent of The Great Hiatus is now** ,  the time after HLV / S3 but before S4.

First, the show itself suggests this interpretation by recalling ACD-Holmes’ farewell to Watson in  _both_ TRF and HLV. In “The Final Problem,” Holmes leaves Watson a note at the Reichenbach Falls explaining the confrontation with Moriarty and the necessity of his (Holmes’) death.

In TRF, Sherlock announces his imminent “suicide” to John: “This phone call – it’s, er… it’s my note. It’s what people do, don’t they – leave a note?” He says a tearful “Goodbye, John” and then jumps to his (fake) death.

Holmes’ canonical note ends with:

> Pray give my greetings to Mrs. Watson, and believe me to be, my dear fellow,
> 
> Very sincerely yours,
> 
> Sherlock Holmes

In HLV, Sherlock shoots Magnussen, then says to John, “Give my love to Mary. Tell her she’s safe now.” 

The similarity - Holmes (Sherlock) remembers Mrs. Watson (Mary) to Watson (John) - draws the parallel between this new moment and that original one.

The difference - Holmes’ note closes with warmth to Watson; Sherlock turns away from John without another word at Appledore - highlights the different source of agony for the audience. Then, readers shared with Watson the pain of Holmes’ death. Now, viewers grieve this latest erosion of Sherlock’s relationship with John, which had been limping and breaking throughout S3 and continues to go unrepaired when they speak later on the airstrip tarmac, ostensibly for the last time.

**The fan reaction to these “endings” is analogous.**

Diane Duane’s blog post [The Affair of the Black Armbands](http://dianeduane.com/outofambit/2012/01/17/the-affair-of-the-black-armbands/) describes the enormous public outcry at Holmes’ death (bold is mine):

> Twenty thousand people canceled their subscriptions to the  Strand [which published the Holmes stories]. Hate mail arrived at the magazine’s editorial offices by the sackload. Thousands of people wrote Doyle directly, begging him to reverse Holmes’s death. Many people took to wearing black armbands in the street, in mourning for Sherlock Holmes.  The death of the world’s first consulting detective was taken up by the wire services and reported all over the world as front-page news. Obituaries for Holmes appeared everywhere.  Petitions were signed and “Keep Holmes Alive” clubs were formed. Not since the demise of Dickens’ Little Nell had a literary death had such powerful effect right across the whole language area of its readership, and **not since then had a fandom made itself so obvious in its grief**.

Feels familiar, doesn’t it?

After S3 of  _Sherlock_ , there’s genuine concern over whether the Sherlock-John relationship is gone beyond repair. Distrust and disappointment leveled at the creators by the most engaged fans. Despair about the direction of the story. Hate mail sent to Moffat and Abbington.

(Of course there are plenty of people who don’t feel this despair, or who liked S3 just fine; there are different levels of engagement with the source material. Not everybody donned a black armband or canceled their  Strand subscription in 1893 either.)

In the late 1800s, ACD did something terrible to his beloved character and his fans gave him hell for it. They lived in anger and grief until the author gave them what they so desperately wanted.

It wasn’t a “hiatus” until it was over. While it was happening, it just felt like The End.

**BBC _Sherlock_ is a modernization of the Sherlock Holmes fan experience as well as the text. ** The dark time of this hiatus isn’t enjoyable while it’s happening, when we can’t  _know_ that things will get better. But I think we’ll look back after S4 (or maybe S5) and realize it was a brilliant piece of storytelling and reenactment.

  


_Disclaimer: It’s entirely possible I’m pursuing an advanced degree in ‘Sherlock’ apologetics. But, like all good religion, the faith I’ve described brings me peace now and hope for the future. I believe in Moftiss._

_[untilprovenguiltypleasures](http://tmblr.co/mOKQXGs8USunP0laFeb56SA) stated the problem in just the right way for me to see this interpretation. So thanks for the hope, my friend. :)_


End file.
